Double Whammy!

Today the Birmingham News printed my LTE and Dawn Palmer's LTE about the hydro operation busted in BHAM a little over a week ago.

MARIJUANA:

Riddled with misinformation

This is in response to The News article "Busted indoor pot farm" (Oct. 11), which was riddled with marijuana misinformation.

Authorities said growing marijuana hydroponically makes it more potent. Hydroponics is simply a growing method. It in no way increases the potency of marijuana or any other plant. Breeding and genetics can increase potency and quality, but the growing method itself has no bearing on the potency of the final product.

Authorities also claimed hydroponic marijuana is responsible for organized crime, home invasions, armed robberies, arsons and homicides. So, the growing method is responsible for all that? Now, I have heard it all. Why not throw child molestation and wife beating in there, too? Doing so couldn't possibly make that statement any less believable.

Prohibition is the reason for the majority of crime around any illicit substance. If you support prohibition, you support crime. You support the drug dealers. Refusing to control and regulate the drug market enables all of this crime.

If Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale wants to talk about gateway theories, prohibition is the gateway to crime.

Hale said of the operation, "It would be impressive if it was a legitimate business." So, why not legitimize it and collect taxes to build the dome, pay off the sewer debt and use police resources to go after all those murderers in the Birmingham area? Why not grow marijuana for those suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and a whole host of other painful conditions that marijuana is good medicine for?

Loretta Nall

Executive director

Alabamians for

Compassionate Care

Alexander City

Why not make marijuana legal?:

I'm writing in response to The News' article about the indoor marijuana operation police recently discovered. The article said an operation like that could generate $1 million a year. Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale said, "It would be impressive if it was a legitimate business."

Well, why not make it a legitimate business?

There has been a bill submitted every year since 2004 to the Alabama Legislature calling for the legalization of medicinal marijuana. There are many people who could benefit from this legitimate business.

People who use marijuana as a medicine could benefit from it, just like they do in 12 other states. This legitimate business could create jobs and revenue. This revenue could help pay off our enormous sewer debt, and it could possibly get Hale more officers to go after real criminals.

The violent crimes the article mentioned, such as home invasions, arsons and homicides (they forgot to mention kidnapping), are the results of prohibition and the money being made from the black market, not the results of someone who has ingested the herb.

Dawn Palmer

Tarrant